Bravura Beach
Daniel G. Berk | West Bloomfield, Michigan | 04/25/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The reason for this CD is the symphony by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach. The Barber symphony and overture are certainly worth hearing, but it is the Beach composition that really commends this recording, and it is certainly a worthy work. For many years Amy Beach was listed in the Schwann catalog as Mrs. H. H. H. Beach, with only one or two piano compositions being listed at all. Well, times have changed. She has her own name and has come into her own as a composer, and the symphony indicates that this recognition was long overdue."
Buy It For the Beach
Moldyoldie | Motown, USA | 05/22/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I've heard the Barber works performed more convincingly elsewhere, but the Gaelic Symphony of Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (d. 1944) is a real charmer with an exquisitely beautiful and affecting Lento third movement; the symphony could've ended there and I'd have been content. The orchestra sounds somewhat underpowered, but the playing is elegant and the recording is vivid and spacious in the Chandos tradition."